How to do the Mohawk Turn

The Mohawk turn (some people call it the Eagle turn) is a fairly simple skating maneuver to perfect if you are already comfortable on your edges. One player who seems to use this move quite a bit is Sidney Crosby (when he’s not getting hit in the face with pucks). In order to perform the move the skater simply puts their heels together and points the toes out, this almost aligns the skate blades in-line allowing the player to carve or turn in a circular motion.

How to do the Mohawk Turn

First practice while standing still, you can even practice off the ice. Bend your knees a bit and point one toe out, now lift the other leg and point the other toe out, then step down (heel to heel). With your legs you should be making a “fat diamond” shape.

Now try the same thing on the ice (with skates on). It may be a bit harder because you are on your blades, but work on getting comfortable in that position and balancing.

When doing this move while moving you will be on both inside edges of the skates.

Mohawk Turn Video Lesson

In this video I show you how to do the Mohawk turn, a few drills you can use to get better at doing it, and a few game situations when you might want to use it.

When and Why you need the Mohawk

The move allows you to open up and see the entire ice while still moving

You can also use it to protect the puck while moving to an area you need to be

The move gives you more options while skating, with a push, or turn of a foot you can stop, keep going, or go forwards in a fraction of a second

Great to use when coming from behind the net

Use it when skating towards the net and calling for a one-timer (on your off wing)

Transitioning from skating backwards to going forwards

The Mohawk in Action Sidney Crosby

You can see Crosby using this move a few times in the clip below.

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Hi my name is Jeremy Rupke. My goal is to break every hockey skill down into easy to understand articles and videos. I explain everything step-by-step to help others improve. I'm active on Instagram, Facebook and more, you can follow through the links above.
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As a hockey/skating coach for over 20 years, let me first say that Jeremy and the rest of the Howtohockey crew have some great stuff out there and I would strongly recommend checking out more of their videos. I just wanted to point out a technicality on the definition of the Mohawk. The Mohawk is a change in direction (forward to backward or vice-versa) from the edge of one skate to the same edge of the other skate (in this case, inside edge to inside edge). It is a one-foot to one-foot move and is used quite often in hockey. A couple of minutes into the video, when Jason is going around the circle rocking from foot to foot, those are Mohawks. The turn, with two heels together and both feet on the ice is, technically, a spread eagle. Nothing wrong with his technique or the drills, just a note on the skating terminology. Looking forward to seeing more!

[…] nice and low Here is another video of Crosby using the mohawk drill that I show in my video on how to do the Mohawk turn. This drill uses the inside edges. Crosby is pretty good so he uses a puck at the same […]